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The Zuni (; formerly spelled ''Zuñi'') are Native American Pueblo peoples native to the Zuni River valley. The Zuni people today are federally recognized as the Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico, and most live in the Pueblo of Zuni on the Zuni River, a tributary of the Little Colorado River, in western
New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...
,
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. The Pueblo of Zuni is south of Gallup, New Mexico. The Zuni tribe lived in multi level adobe houses. In addition to the reservation, the tribe owns trust lands in Catron County, New Mexico, and
Apache County, Arizona Apache County is a County (United States), county in the northeast corner of the U.S. state of Arizona. Shaped in a long rectangle running north to south, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 66,021. The county ...
. The Zuni call their homeland ''Halona Idiwan’a ''or Middle Place. The word ''Zuni'' is believed to derive from the Western Keres language ( Acoma) word ''sɨ̂‧ni'', or a cognate thereof.


History

Archaeology suggests that the Zuni have been farmers in the general area for 3,000 to 4,000 years. It is now thought that the Ancestral Zuni people inhabited the Zuni River valley from the last millennium B.C., when they began using
irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering of plants) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has bee ...
to farm
maize Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago from wild teosinte. Native American ...
on at least household-sized plots. Zuni culture is associated with Mogollon and Ancestral Pueblo peoples cultures, who lived in the deserts of New Mexico,
Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...
,
Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...
, and southern
Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...
for over two millennia. White Mound was one such settlement of pit houses, farming, and storerooms, built around 700 A.D., followed by the village of Kiatuthlanna around 800 A.D., and Allantown around 1000 A.D. These Mogollon villages included kivas. Likewise, Zuni ancestors were in contact with the Ancestral Puebloans at Chaco Canyon around 1100. The Zuni settlement called Village of the Great Kivas, was built around 1100, and included nine kivas. The Zuni region, however, was probably only sparsely populated by small agricultural settlements until the 12th century when the population and the size of the settlements began to increase. The large villages of Heshot Ula, Betatakin, and Kiet Siel were established by 1275. By the 13th century villages were built on top of mesas, including Atsinna on Inscription Rock. In the 14th century, the Zuni inhabited a dozen pueblos containing between 180 and 1,400 rooms, while the Anasazi abandoned larger settlements for smaller ones, or established new ones along the Rio Grande. The Zuni did move from the eastern portion of their territory to the western side, and built six new villages, Halona, Hawikuh, Kiakima, Matsaki, Kwakina, and Kechipaun. Halona was located 97 km north Zuni Salt Lake, and the Zuni traded in salt, corn and turquoise. Hawikuh was claimed by Niza to be one of the Seven Cities of Cibola, a legendary 16th century wealthy empire.Pritzker 109 In 1539, Moorish slave Estevanico led an advance party of Fray Marcos de Niza's Spanish expedition. Sponsored by Antonio de Mendoza who wanted Niza to "explain to the natives of the land that there is only one God in heaven, and the Emperor on earth to rule and govern it, whose subjects they all must become and whom they must serve." The Zuni reportedly killed Estevanico as a spy, or for being "greedy, voracious and bold". This was Spain's first contact with any of the Pueblo peoples. Francisco Vásquez de Coronado expedition followed in the wake of Niza's Seven Cities of Cibola claim. Sponsored once again by Mendoza, Coronado led 230 soldiers on horseback, 70 foot soldiers, several Franciscan priests and Mexican natives. The Spanish met 600 Zuni warriors near Hawikuh in July 1540, inflicting several casualties, and capturing the village. Coronado continued to the Rio Grande, but several priests and soldiers stayed an additional two years. The Chamuscado and Rodríguez Expedition followed in 1581, and Antonio de Espejo in 1583. Juan de Oñate visited Zuni territory in 1598 and 1604 looking for copper mines, but without success. Francisco Manuel de Silva Nieto established a mission at Hawikuh in 1629 with two Franciscan priests. They completed a church compound in 1632, and established a second mission in Halona. Shortly afterwards, the Zuni destroyed the missions, killing two priests, and then retreated to Dowa Yalanne, where they remained for the next three years. The Spanish built another mission in Halona in 1643. Before the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, the Zuni lived in six villages. After the revolt, until 1692, they took refuge in a defensible position atop '' Dowa Yalanne'', a steep mesa 5 km (3.1 miles) southeast of the present Pueblo of Zuni; ''Dowa'' means "corn", and ''yalanne'' means "mountain". After the establishment of peace and the return of the Spanish, the Zuni relocated to their present location, returning to the mesa top only briefly in 1703. By the end of the 17th century, only Halona was still inhabited of the original six villages. Yet, satellite villages were settled around Halona, and included Nutria, Ojo Caliente, and Pescado. Of the three Zuni missions, only the church at Halona was rebuilt after the reconquest. According to Nancy Bonvillain, "Indeed, by the late eighteenth century, Spanish authorities had given up hope of dominating the Zuni and other western Pueblo Indians, and in 1799 only seven Spanish people were recorded as living among the Zuni.". In 1821, the Franciscans ended their missionary efforts. In 1848, U.S. Army Lt. Col. Henderson P. Boyakin signed a treaty with Zuni and Navajo leaders stating the Zuni "shall be protected in the full management of all their rights of Private Property and Religion... ythe authorities, civil and military, of New Mexico and the United States." Observing the Zuni in the 1850s, Balduin Möllhausen noted "In all directions, fields of wheat and maize, as well as gourds and melons, bore testimony to their industry." The Zuni Reservation was created by the United States federal government in 1877, and enlarged by a second
Executive order In the United States, an executive order is a directive by the president of the United States that manages operations of the federal government. The legal or constitutional basis for executive orders has multiple sources. Article Two of the ...
in 1883. Frank Hamilton Cushing, an
anthropologist An anthropologist is a scientist engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropologists study aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms, values ...
associated with the
Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...
, lived with the Zuni from 1879 to 1884. He was one of the first non-native participant-observers and ethnologists at Zuni. In 1979, it was reported that some members of the Pueblo consider he had wrongfully documented the Zuni way of life, exploiting them by photographing and revealing sacred traditions and ceremonies. During the early 2000s, the Zuni opposed the development of a
coal mine Coal mining is the process of resource extraction, extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its Energy value of coal, energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to Electricity generation, generate electr ...
near the Zuni Salt Lake, a site sacred to the Zuni and under Zuni control. The mine would have extracted water from the
aquifer An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing material, consisting of permeability (Earth sciences), permeable or fractured rock, or of unconsolidated materials (gravel, sand, or silt). Aquifers vary greatly in their characteristics. The s ...
below the lake and would also have involved construction between the lake and the Zuni. The plan was abandoned in 2003 after several lawsuits. File:We-Wa, a Zuni berdache, weaving - NARA - 523796 (cropped).jpg, We'Wha (1849–1896), a celebrated Zuni lhamana weaver at work on a backstrap loom, photo: John K. Hillers, –1907 File:Image taken from page 14 of 'Report of an expedition down the Zuni and Colorado Rivers by Captain L. Sitgreaves (11042155095) (cropped).jpg, Image of Zuni Pueblo created during the U.S. Army
Corps of Topographical Engineers Corps (; plural ''corps'' ; from French , from the Latin "body") is a term used for several different kinds of organization. A military innovation by Napoleon I, the formation was formally introduced March 1, 1800, when Napoleon ordered Gene ...
's 1851 expedition to Arizona which was led by Captain Sitgreaves File:Lutakawi.jpg, Lutakawi, Zuni Governor, photographed before 1925 by Edward S. Curtis File:Zuni Pueblo2.jpg, Zuni
pueblo Pueblo refers to the settlements of the Pueblo peoples, Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, currently in New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas. The permanent communities, including some of the oldest continually occupied settlement ...
middle court, in 1879 File:Littlecoloradomap.png, Zuni River, Zuni Pueblo, New Mexico. The Zuni people have inhabited the Zuni River valley since the last millennium BCE File:Ancient Pueblo Town of Zuni, Western New Mexico (cropped).jpg, Zuni men and the ancient Pueblo Town of Zuni, File:Edward S. Curtis Collection People 082.jpg, Two Zuni girls, photographed by Edward S. Curtis,


Culture

The Zuni traditionally speak the Zuni language, a
language isolate A language isolate is a language that has no demonstrable genetic relationship with any other languages. Basque in Europe, Ainu and Burushaski in Asia, Sandawe in Africa, Haida and Zuni in North America, Kanoê in South America, and Tiwi ...
that has no known relationship to any other Native American language. Linguists believe that the Zuni have maintained the integrity of their language for 6,000-to-7,000 years. The Zuni do, however, share a number of words from Keresan,
Hopi The Hopi are Native Americans who primarily live in northeastern Arizona. The majority are enrolled in the Hopi Tribe of Arizona and live on the Hopi Reservation in northeastern Arizona; however, some Hopi people are enrolled in the Colorado ...
, and Pima pertaining to religion. The Zuni continue to practice their traditional religion with its regular ceremonies and dances, and an independent and unique belief system. The Zuni were and are a traditional people who live by irrigated agriculture and raising livestock. Gradually the Zuni farmed less and turned to
sheep Sheep (: sheep) or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are a domesticated, ruminant mammal typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to d ...
and
cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, bovid ungulates widely kept as livestock. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Mature female cattle are calle ...
herding as a means of economic development. Their success as a desert agri-economy is due to careful management and conservation of resources, as well as a complex system of community support. Many contemporary Zuni also rely on the sale of traditional arts and
craft A craft or trade is a pastime or an occupation that requires particular skills and knowledge of skilled work. In a historical sense, particularly the Middle Ages and earlier, the term is usually applied to people occupied in small scale pr ...
s. Some Zuni still live in the old-style Pueblos, while others live in modern houses. Their location is relatively isolated, but they welcome respectful tourists. The Zuni Tribal Fair and
rodeo Rodeo () is a competitive equestrian sport that arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain and Mexico, expanding throughout the Americas and to other nations. It was originally based on the skills required of the working vaqu ...
is held the third weekend in August. The Zuni also participate in the Gallup Inter-Tribal Ceremonial, usually held in early or mid-August. The A:shiwi A:wan Museum and Heritage Center is a tribal museum that showcases Zuni history, culture, and arts.


Ethnobotany

The Zuni utilize many local plants in their culture. For an extensive list, see the main article, " Zuni ethnobotany". Zuni have developed knowledge of local plants that are used for medical practices and religious rites.


Pottery

Traditionally, Zuni women made
pottery Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other raw materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. The place where such wares are made by a ''potter'' is al ...
for storing food and water. They used symbols of their clans for designs.
Clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, ). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impuriti ...
for the pottery is sourced locally. Prior to its extraction, the women give thanks to the Earth Mother ('' Awidelin Tsitda'') according to ritual. The clay is ground, sifted, mixed with water, rolled into a coil, shaped into a vessel or other design, and scraped smooth with a scraper. A thin layer of finer clay, called slip, is applied to the surface for extra smoothness and color. The vessel is polished with a stone after it dries. It is painted with home-made organic dyes, using a traditional yucca brush. The shape and painted images depend on the intended purpose of the pottery. To fire the pottery, the Zuni used animal dung in traditional
kiln A kiln is a thermally insulated chamber, a type of oven, that produces temperatures sufficient to complete some process, such as hardening, drying, or Chemical Changes, chemical changes. Kilns have been used for millennia to turn objects m ...
s. Today, Zuni potters might use electric kilns. While the firing was usually a community enterprise, silence or communication in low voices was considered essential in order to maintain the original "voice" of the "being" of the clay, and the purpose of the end product.Morrell, Virginia
"The Zuni Way."
''Smithsonian Magazine.'' April 2007 (retrieved 13 Feb 2011)
Sales of pottery and traditional arts provide a major source of income for many Zuni people today. An artisan may be the sole financial support for her immediate family as well as others. Many women make pottery or, more rarely, clothing or baskets. Brown, black and red ornamentation can be found on traditional Zuni pots that are first covered with white slip. Common motifs are spiral scrolls edged with triangles, deer, as well as frogs, dragonflies and other symbols associated with rain and water. In addition to pots, Zuni produce owl figurines that are covered with white slip and painted with black and red motifs before firing.


Carving and silversmithing

Zuni also make fetishes and
necklace A necklace is an article of jewellery that is worn around the neck. Necklaces may have been one of the earliest types of adornment worn by humans. They often serve ceremonial, religious, magical, or funerary purposes and are also used as sy ...
s for the purpose of rituals and trade, and more recently for sale to collectors. The Zuni are known for their fine
lapidary Lapidary () is the practice of shaping rock (geology), stone, minerals, or gemstones into decorative items such as cabochons, engraved gems (including cameo (carving), cameos), and faceted designs. A person who practices lapidary techniques of ...
work. Zuni jewelers set hand-cut turquoise and other stones in silver. Today jewelry-making thrives as an art form among the Zuni. Many Zuni have become master stone-cutters. Techniques used include
mosaic A mosaic () is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/Mortar (masonry), mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and ...
and channel inlay to create intricate designs and unique patterns. Two specialties of Zuni jewelers are needlepoint and petit point. In making needlepoint, small, slightly oval-shaped stones with pointed ends are set in silver bezels, close to one another and side by side to create a pattern. The technique is normally used with turquoise, sometimes with
coral Corals are colonial marine invertebrates within the subphylum Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact Colony (biology), colonies of many identical individual polyp (zoology), polyps. Coral species include the important Coral ...
and occasionally with other stones in creating necklaces, bracelets, earrings and rings. Petit point is made in the same fashion as needlepoint, except that one end of each stone is pointed, and the other end is rounded.


Religion

Religion is central to Zuni life. Their traditional religious beliefs are centered on the three most powerful of their
deities A deity or god is a supernatural being considered to be sacred and worthy of worship due to having authority over some aspect of the universe and/or life. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines ''deity'' as a God (male deity), god or god ...
: Earth Mother, Sun Father, and Moonlight-Giving Mother. The religion is katsina-based, and ceremonies occur during
winter solstice The winter solstice, or hibernal solstice, occurs when either of Earth's geographical pole, poles reaches its maximum axial tilt, tilt away from the Sun. This happens twice yearly, once in each hemisphere (Northern Hemisphere, Northern and So ...
, summer, harvest, and again in winter. Priesthood includes three priests (north, above and below), and Pekwin (the above priest) determines the religious calendar. A religious society is associated with each of the six kivas, and each boy is initiated into one of these societies.


Shalako

Shalako is a series of ceremonial dances that take place throughout the night on or around the
winter solstice The winter solstice, or hibernal solstice, occurs when either of Earth's geographical pole, poles reaches its maximum axial tilt, tilt away from the Sun. This happens twice yearly, once in each hemisphere (Northern Hemisphere, Northern and So ...
. They are closed to non-native individuals unless there is a personal invitation by a tribal member. The ceremony also blesses the houses that were built during the year. The blessing takes the form of singing that accompanies six dancers who are dressed in Shalako outfits. These outfits can be as high as eight feet; the dancers wearing them represent "couriers of the rain deities come to bless new homes". The dancers move from house to house throughout the night; at dawn Saiyatasha performs a final prayer and the ceremony is complete.


In popular culture

In the novel '' Brave New World'', one of the main characters is a man named John of British descent who grew up among a community of Zuni people in New Mexico.


Gallery

File:Edward S. Curtis Collection People 071.jpg, Zuni Girl, photographed by Edward S. Curtis File:CEX D303 Zuñis in typical modern costume.jpg, Zuñis in typical modern costume, 1896 File:Zuni vases.jpg, Zuni water vases File:Zuni pottery (2).jpg, Zuni pottery File:Zuni paint and condiment cups.jpg, Zuni paint and condiment cups File:Zuni ladles of clay.jpg, Zuni ceramic ladles File:Zuni bird effigies.jpg, Zuni bird effigies File:Clay baskets of the Zuni.jpg, Zuni clay baskets File:Animal effigies of the Zuni.jpg, Zuni animal effigies File:Zuni sashes.jpg, Zuni woven sashes


Notable Zuni people

* Gomeo Bobelu, jeweler and activist * Emily Pinto, painter * Percy Tsisete Sandy (Kai-Sa ed Moon, painter * We'wha, weaver


See also

* Zuni Reservation * Zuni language *
Zuni mythology Zuni religion is the oral tradition, oral history, cosmology, and religion of the Zuni people. The Zuni are a Pueblo people located in New Mexico. Their religion is integrated into their daily lives and respects ancestors, nature, and animals.
* Zuniceratops * Zuni Pueblo, New Mexico


Citations


References

* Adair, John
''The Navajo and Pueblo Silversmiths''
Norman:
University of Oklahoma Press The University of Oklahoma Press (OU Press) is the publishing arm of the University of Oklahoma. Founded in 1929 by the fifth president of the University of Oklahoma, William Bennett Bizzell, it was the first university press to be established ...
, 1989. . * Cushing, Frank Hamilton. Jesse Green, ed. ''Zuni: Selected Writings of Frank Hamilton Cushing''. Lincoln:
University of Nebraska Press The University of Nebraska Press (UNP) was founded in 1941 and is an academic publisher of scholarly and general-interest books. The press is under the auspices of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, the main campus of the University of Ne ...
, 1978. . * Pritzker, Barry M. ''A Native American Encyclopedia: History, Culture, and Peoples.'' Oxford:
Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...
, 2000. . * Wade, Edwin L. "The Ethnic Art Market in the American Southwest, 1880–1980." George, W. Stocking, Jr., ed. ''Objects and Others: Essays on Museums and Material Culture (History of Anthropology)''. Vol. 3. Madison:
University of Wisconsin Press The University of Wisconsin Press (sometimes abbreviated as UW Press) is a Non-profit organization, non-profit university press publishing Peer review, peer-reviewed books and journals. It publishes work by scholars from the global academic comm ...
, 1988. .


Further reading

* Benedict, Ruth. ''Zuni Mythology''. 2 vols. Columbia University Contributions to Anthropology, no. 21. New York:
Columbia University Press Columbia University Press is a university press based in New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's la ...
, 1935. AMS Press reprint, 1969. * Bunzel, Ruth L.
Introduction to Zuni Ceremonialism
. (1932a); "Zuni Origin Myths". (1932b); "Zuni Ritual Poetry". (1932c). In Forty-Seventh Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology. pp. 467–835. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1932. Reprint, ''Zuni Ceremonialism: Three Studies''. Introduction by Nancy Pareto. University of New Mexico Press, 1992. * Bunzel, Ruth L. ''Zuni Texts''. Publications of the American Ethnological Society, 15. New York: G.E. Steckert & Co., 1933 * Cushing, Frank Hamilton, Barton Wright, ''The Mythic World of the Zuni''
University of New Mexico Press
1992, hardcover, * Herrick, Dennis. (2018) ''Esteban: The African Slave Who Explored America''
University of New Mexico Press
hardcover, * Davis, Nancy Yaw. (2000). ''The Zuni enigma''. Norton. * Eggan, Fred and T.N. Pandey. "Zuni History, 1855–1970". '' Handbook of North American Indians, Southwest''. Vol.9. Ed. By Alfonso Ortiz. pp. 474–481. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1979. * Hart, E. Richard, 2000. "Zuni Claims: An Expert Witness’ Reflections," ''American Indian Culture and Research Journal,'' 24(1): 163–171. * Hart, E. Richard, ed. ''Zuni and the Courts: A Struggle for Sovereign Land Rights.'' Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1995. . * Kroeber, Alfred L. (1984). ''Zuni kin and clan''. AMS Press. * Newman, Stanley S. ''Zuni Dictionary''. Indiana University Research Center, Publication Six. Bloomington: Indiana University, 1967. . * Roberts, John. "The Zuni". ''In Variations in Value Orientations''. Ed. by F.R. Kluckhorn and F.L. Strodbeck. pp. 285–316. Evanston, IL and Elmsford, NY: Row, Peterson, 1961. * Smith, Watson and John Roberts. ''Zuni Law: A Field of Values''. Papers of the Peabody Museum of the American Archaeology and Ethnology, Vol. 43. Cambridge, MA: Peabody Museum, 1954. * Tedlock, Barbara
''The Beautiful and the Dangerous: Dialogues with the Zuni Indians''
New York:
Penguin Books Penguin Books Limited is a Germany, German-owned English publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers the Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the ...
, 1992.


External links


Pueblo of Zuni official website

A:shiwi A:wan Museum and Heritage Center
at Zuni
Pueblo of Zuni official Artist’s Art Walk website




Access Genealogy
''The Religious Life of the Zuñi Child''
by (Mrs.) Tilly E. (Matilda Coxe EStevenson), from
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Pueblo tribe (Zuni is Pueblo)
*

15 July 2008 * ttp://digital.lib.msu.edu/projects/cookbooks/html/books/book_74.cfm ''Zuni Breadstuff''by Frank Hamilton Cushing, from
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Libraries – The Historic American Cookbook Project {{DEFAULTSORT:Zuni people Zuni tribe Federally recognized tribes in the United States Native American tribes in Arizona Native American tribes in New Mexico Pueblo peoples